Sleeps With Angels by Neil Young

Album: Sleeps With Angels (1994)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Most of the album was recorded before the event, but Neil Young wrote this song after Kurt Cobain's death. Cobain quoted Young's lyric, "It's better to burn out than fade away" (from "My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)") in his suicide note. This affected Neil, who was inspired musically by Kurt Cobain and Nirvana on Sleeps With Angels. Young, in turn, was an influence on Nirvana and the whole Grunge scene, as loud, distorted guitars were his thing in the late '70s.
Neil had been trying to reach Cobain by phone in the weeks leading up to his suicide. Although he refused to talk about Cobain's death for years, Neil opened up a bit in a 2002 interview with The Guardian: "I like to think that I possibly could have done something. I was just trying to reach him. Trying to connect up with him. It's just too bad I didn't get a shot. I had an impulse to connect. Only when he used my song in that suicide note was the connection made. Then, I felt it was really unfortunate that I didn't get through to him. I might've been able to make things a little lighter for him, that's all. Just lighten it up a little bit."

Comments: 2

Danny Ross from Atlanta, GaThe magnum opus on this album is "Change Your Mind", a 14 minute guitar epic along the lines of "Powderfinger", "Down By The River" etc. The alternating ostinato bass is straight from Chopin's famous "Funeral March" but this song manages, like most of Young's music, to bring light out of darkness. It is a magnificent song.

-drl
Johnny from Los Angeles, CaWasn't that the other way around... Neil Young (The Grandaddy of Grunge) affecting Kurt Cobain and Nirvana?

see more comments

More Songfacts:

At This MomentBilly Vera & the Beaters

"At This Moment" was first released by Billy Vera & the Beaters in 1981, and hit #79. After it was used in two episodes of Family Ties in 1985-1986, it went to #1.

Mr. Tambourine ManBob Dylan

Bob Dylan's original version of "Mr. Tambourine Man," released on his album Bringing It All Back Home, has no tambourine, just guitars and harmonica.

Piano ManBilly Joel

"Piano Man" was inspired by Billy Joel's time playing at a piano bar in Los Angeles. The "real estate novelist" was a guy who always talked about writing a book, but spent all his spare time in the bar.

True ColorsCyndi Lauper

With a message of acceptance and inclusivity, "True Colors" became a gay rights anthem. Cyndi Lauper help form an organization called True Colors United to help support LGBTQ youth.

Edge Of SeventeenStevie Nicks

The death of John Lennon was an influence on the Stevie Nicks hit "Edge Of Seventeen." He's the one with the "words of a poet and voice from a choir."

VoodooGodsmack

The line, "I feel the snakebite enter my veins," led many to believe the Godsmack song "Voodoo" is about drugs, but it's really about Wiccan ritual, inspired in part by the Wes Craven movie The Serpent and the Rainbow.